Two Israeli soldiers take own lives in occupied territories

Israeli forces walk outside Damascus Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem al-Quds on June 18, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Two Israeli soldiers stationed at a military barracks in the southern part of the occupied territories and an intelligence unit have separately committed suicide, Israeli and Palestinian media outlets say.

One of the soldiers was a member of Unit 8200, which is an Israeli spy service unit responsible for collecting signal intelligence (SIGINT) and code decryption. He killed himself on Sunday morning, Arabic-language Ma’an news agency reported.

The other one topped himself at Tsalim military base in the desert Negev region in the afternoon.

On February 16, an Israeli soldier stationed at the border between the occupied territories and the besieged Gaza Strip committed suicide by shooting himself in the head.

The Israeli military announced earlier this year that suicide was the main cause of death among Israeli soldiers, and that 15 troopers - all of them male - had taken their own lives last year.

The army added that four soldiers were killed in the course of military operations, nine in on-base accidents, seven in off-duty car accidents and six died from illness or other medical reasons.

Another 43 soldiers were seriously hurt during the course of 2016.

Most of the soldiers injured or killed were conscripted troops. A smaller portion were career soldiers, and a handful were reservists who were in service at the time of their deaths, the Israeli army said.